Instantaneous water-heater.



No. 884,223. PATENTED APR. 7, 1908.

A. E. SHIPLEY.

INSTANTANEOUS WATER HEATER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 31. 1907.

@@@Qwf @QQ @QQ @@Qi @@@l QQ@ @QQ ALBERT E. SHIPLEY, OF NELSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

' msrANTANEoUs waarna-HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 7, 1908.

Application liled May 31, 1907. Serial No. 376,632.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it 'known that I, ALBERT E. SHIPLEY', a subgect of the King` of E land, and resident of elson, British Colum ia) Canada, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Instantaneous Water-Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

invention relates kto water heaters employing gaseous fuel, and comprises an imroved device in which the water is heated y direct contact with the products of combustion, being exposed thereto in lms on the surface of non-absorbent balls or the like and in the form of ine spray falling from perforations in plates, as well as in thin` lms of water iiowing over the surface ofheated plates orl The invention further embodies theapplication ofa water spray blast to intensif'ythe draft ina water heater using gaseous fuel for vthe purpose of causing the products of com-f bustlon to tlo'w thrdu 'h the interstices betweerll the balls or` the 'ke and to render the combustion more perfect. l

The heater is illustrated inthe accompany- Lnldrawings, in which "e 1 is a centralvertical section thereof,y 'gl -2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2cfllga 1. l

-Refrri spleciically tothe drawings, the easing oft e i Eei'forttionsv B for the entry of air for cornustion and this contains near the bottom a powerful burner G of the Bussen t e. .catch 'cistern or well D, formed b t e juncon of the truste-conical shell ,with the eylinaneel shell A is placed immediately "curved downward; towards the centenand 50 ever the burner. l l

-An overflow pipe F enters the shell A at a uint naar the top of the well to conduct the 't water to' the bath, or other vessel. A. hoed'H of. sheet copper; or ,other metal is placed ever the well as shown, and immedintely abois it isa perforated metallicy disk J wounded in its circumference .by e secondI ycylindrical shell I dtping below' the' water level in the lavell.` Te" disk J is cupped or has 8 series of large perforatiolis' j made in such a Way that the metal is turned slightlycenter of the vshielcl- Il. Thef'objeet of the l eater consists of a cylindrical sheet metal shell A, having at the lower end shell I is totpre'vent the'hot products of com- .bustion coming into contact with the walls of the heater and the consequent loss of heat by radiation. The disk J and hood H are spaced by short ipe separators p.

`K is a hollow our arms cross shaped (grid,

fit-

whichmay be either built up of pipe an tings as shown, or made of cast iron or other metal and is arranged directly below a per; forated partition W. Its object is to su ort the contents of the upper portion oft e heater, and at the same time conduct the' water to the s ray nozzle N by means ofthe vertical pipe at the center.

The upper half or part of the heater is filled "to the level of the nozzle N with round porcelain balls M, smooth round stones or other similar non-absorbent material, the object of which is to forma large area of wetted surface in direct contact with the heated productsl of combustion, which pass upward through the interstice's between the balls;

The nozzle N is so constructed as to projectthe waterupward in a cone of line-spray, so regulated as `to just cover the area ol.l the opening O. lThis' spray, passing through ,the opening O, at hi h velocity, carries with it a large body of t e products of combustion from v`the upper portion of the heater,I 'thus producing a strong artiicial draft for' the products of combustion. l

Q is a vdished 'cover for the heater andsu ports the stack or waste lue or pipe P t contains a compartment or space R into .which the water trickles on its return from the stack.. The bottom of this compartment isperforated with many line holes ofI such size 'as' to' provide 'a small depth of water in the com' artmet, in order to produce an even dist lbution;

The ationof the heef-er is es follows: on

"lighting the burner the water being'turiied on at thesame time by the mechanism shown vthe,heate'dproducts of combustion pass u ward, comin in contact with the inner wa of the well circumference, vthencev u ward through the openings in disk J into t e upper half of the v K vOn reaching the sleldfH, thej'r are deflected, passing out towardsits vir'lgs between the balls or'stones, untill the;r 'reach the space above, from which the `are drawnv byj the action of the .waterv last comes arrested by contact with the Wa s of' Athe stack P and by the force of gravit is carried downward in a film along the wa s of the stack until it reaches the compartment R. Here it spreads over the bottom of the comartment to a depth of from i to inch and ops in a liner-am from the numerous perforations in the bottom. This rain falling on the filling of balls M forms a thin skin or wetted surface over the surface of each ball. This skin has a downward motion due `to gravityand drops fromone ball to the other;

re-forming on the successive balls until finally it drops to the concave surface of the plate J. The upward turned edges of the gas o enings in J prevent the water passing throng them, and the latter is in consequence'led towards 2 small holes j to the upper surface of the shield H. Passing down the curvedsurface of H, it drops from the circumference into the well D. From the well it overflows into the height governs the water level as shown in the dra The transfer of heatfrom the waste gases to the water is accomplished as theytravel in p opposite directions, the hot 'water being in contact' with hot gases at the bottom and the cool gases in contact with the cold water at the top, thus effecting a most complete interchange of heat through the medium o f the heating surfaces provided in the invention. The hot gses imp' the parts H, and heat the water on the upper surfaces by conduction through the ates. The water as itl drops' from one plate to the other and tothe well 1s also heated by vdirect contact of the waste gases with the drops. The complete transfer of heat is accomplishedin the up er half by the intimate contact of the comlustion ases with the films of waters in theBpas'sage t ough the bed of balls or stones. urther the fine spray of water i'n the smoke stack, serves to insure a -I i complete transfer of heat and the issue of the vlwaste vases at a temperature much below that ,ofa the surrounding atmosphere. This the center from where it drops through thev bath or other vessel through the pipe F, whose` g on the surfaces of,

transfer is socomplete that an efliciency ofy between 90 and 100 per cent. is obtained, While the induced draft intensifies the action of the burner, insuring perfect combustion '60 and preventing the formation of sooty deposits in the wate The iow of gas to the, heater is controlled bythe cock or valve 1 operated by lever 3.

6 is a pilt light for thepurpose of li hting the burner. The cold water 1s contro ed by edge of the hood, the space between the outer a cock or valve 2 connected by the lever 4 and link 5 with the lever 3. 'The cold water and gas are thus controlled in unison through the lever 3. To operate the heater, the pilot cock 6 is turned on and lighted. The lever 3 70 is then turned upward opening together the gas and water in ets, after which the pilot is turned off. To` extinguish, the lever is merely turned down.

I Claim l' 75 1. In a water heater, a vertical casing provided at its top with an outlet for the products of combustion, and at its bottom with a burner, a transverse grid-at the center of the casing, a spray pipe extending upward from the grid at the center of the casing and arranged to deliver 'a spray into the outlet, a dished perforated cover for the casing, pro.- vided with an opening to permit the passage of the spray and with an annular flange around the opening, a plurality of non-absorbent balls supported by the grid, a convex transverse shield below the grid arranged with its concave face downward, a cone shaped hood above the burner, the edges of the shield projecting beyond the adjacent face of the hood and the inner face of the casing being adapted to receive the water passmg being provided with an overflow pipe to permit the passage of the water therefrom, and a downwardly cupped disk provided with perforations adjacent itsl centerfor permitting the passage of the water and with upwardly 10C flanged perforations near its edges for-permitting the passage of the'products of comrb ustion arranged above the h ood.

2. In a water heater, a vertical casing provided at its top with an outlet foi' the prod- 105 ucts of combustion, and at its'bottom with a burner, a transverse grid at the center of the casing, a spray pipe extending up from the grid and arranged to deliver a spray into'the outlet, a dished pprforated cover for the cas- 110 ing provided wit an opening to permit the passage of the spray, Vand with an annular iiange around the opening, a plurality of nonabsorbent balls supported by the grid, a convex transverse shield below the grid arranged with' its concave face downward, a cone shaped hood above the burner, the edge ofA the shield rojecting beyond the adjacent edge of the liood the space between the outer face of the hood and the inner face of the casing being adapted to receive the water passing downward through the casing,said casing being provided with an overliow'pi e to .permit the passage of the water there om.

3. In a water heater, a vertical casing pro- 125 .4

vided at its top with an outlet for the prod ucts of combustion, and at its bottom with a burner, a transverse lgrid at the center of the a spray pipe extending upwardly casing, there om and arranged lto deliver a spray in 13o mg downward through the casing, said cas 95 y,

1 the passage ofthe spray, an

'flange around the opening, a plurality of'nonabsorbent balls supportedby the grid, a cone' shaped hood above thexburner, the s ace between thev outerfaee ofthe hood an the in-v the outlet, a dished perforatedcoverfor the easing provided fwit an opening to permit ner face of the easing being adapted to re' eeive the Waterl passing downward'. through the oasing,.said easing being provided with an overflow pipe to permit the passage of Wa- I *ter therefrom, aj kdownwardly cupped disk E with an annularv -providedrewith perforations adjacent 'to its center for permitting the passage of the wa'- ter7 and w1th'u Wardly flanged perforations 15. nearl its edges or permitting the Apassage ofthe -v roducts of'eombustion arranged a ove the ood, and means for deileoting the falling water to the space between the hood 'and the.

casing. r e ALBERT E. SHIPLEY.

Witnesses:

JAS. P. MAI/wm, HARRY HOUSTON. 

